There was no labor dispute Saturday.
Not when it came to Nebraska football.
The Huskers are laboring as a program. Laboring hard and looking ordinary. There's no disputing that.
Nebraska, at 3-5 overall (1-3 Big Ten), will have to do some heavy lifting to even reach a bowl game in the wake of its 30-28 loss to Northwestern, where players in 2014 began an unsuccessful attempt to unionize.
Nebraska may have to work hard to keep many of its fans from sleepwalking through the rest of the season — a season that a week ago, after a 48-25 win at Minnesota, seemed somewhat promising despite an awful beginning.